


as it should have been

by WonderstruckSwan



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fix It Fic, Gen, anti regina if you squint, basically not for die hard evil regals, i am not really being subtle with the title am i?, s7 finale, that sweet cygnet believer goodness, working through my issues with the finale via fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-15
Packaged: 2019-06-27 22:13:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15694377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderstruckSwan/pseuds/WonderstruckSwan
Summary: When all is done, the Realms are united under their rightful ruler, Queen Emma.





	as it should have been

“Where is she?” Snow hissed to her husband, keeping a bright smile on the stand as she looked out into the sea of people filling up the Great Hall-from her Enchanted Forest, Arendelle, Wonderland, the New Enchanted Forest, the Wish Realm, Oz, the Land Without Colour and even a few Lost Boys. The crowd was starting to get restless and she couldn’t blame them; the newly elected Queen was meant to have been crowned five minutes ago.

“She’ll be here, don’t worry,” Charming assured her. “Emma would never miss her own coronation.”

“I know, but everyone’s getting impatient,” Snow replied. “They can’t wait much longer David. We know most of them are here for the buffet at the end.”

“Maybe she was having car trouble,” Charming said. “Emma said that the bug’s been on the brink for a while, she’s always meant to take it to the garage-”

The doors to the ballroom burst open, startling everyone in the great hall. An out of breath Emma stumbled through the doors, her hair in loose curls that Snow had taken to calling “princess curls”, her trusted red leather jacket over the pale pink ballgown she had ordered online and driven all the way to her old Boston apartment to pick up. Killian stood behind his wife, eyes shifting nervously over the crowd, an awkward smile on his face, and behind him, a fourteen-year-old in tight grey jeans and a crisp white short sleeved shirt, purple leather jacket over it and blonde hair curled, much like her mother’s, eyeliner around her blue eyes, the double of her father’s. Hope Swan-Jones.

“Sorry I’m late,” Emma panted.

“It’s my fault,” Hope said, wincing. “I couldn’t find the shirt I wanted and then I hadn’t done my curls properly, so Mom had to do them again and by the time we were finished we realised we were meant to be here five minutes ago. I’m sorry, Grandma.”

“Your sister is quite the fashionista, kid,” Emma said as she warmly embraced Henry. “Oh, I have missed you.” She began shrugging off her red leather jacket.

“Well she has to look good today,” he said swinging an arm around his sister’s shoulders. “I’d say she’s the second prettiest kid here.” He nodded to Lucy, who was holding Hope’s hand, bouncing with gossip she had to share with her niece.

“Also, the car didn’t start,” Killian pointed out. In the background, Charming raised an eyebrow at his wife; his face may as well have had ‘I told you so’ written all over it. “So, it’s not all her fault.”

 “And how is my beautiful little sister?” he asked. “Are you ready to watch Mom get crowned?”

“Younger sister,” she corrected him, rolling her eyes.

“Speaking of which, can we get on with that?” Snow asked in a loud faux-whisper. Emma’s face flushed red and she rushed to the podium.

“Yep, yes, sorry,” she chuckled, smoothing her skirt. Snow couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she looked at her daughter, standing before her like the princess Snow herself used to be, ready to take on the responsibility she was born for, the one she came so close to losing decades ago.

“Do you swear to uphold the laws, agreed upon by yourself and the Queens of the other realms?” David asked, his voice trembling slightly.

“I do,” Emma replied.

“And do you swear to listen to and take the advice of your new council of Queens?” Snow asked.

“I do,” Emma said again, unable to stop herself from smiling.

“And will you protect and defend the citizens of your new Kingdom with all the strength you have?” David asked.

“I will,” Emma answered. Her mother looked like she would burst from happiness, and her father, well he had never looked prouder.

“Then it is with great pride,” Snow announced. “That I now crown you, High Queen of the United Realms.”

The applause was deafening. Emma had to take a step back as the cheers climbed higher. It was an exhilarating feeling, watching all these people applaud for her. It felt like a dream, this whole life felt like a dream, but she was never going to lose this.

Her father led her down to the floor, eyes filled with pride at what his daughter had achieved, and she ran to her family, warmly embracing Lucy and Ella first.

“Congratulations, Grandma,” Lucy said. Emma winced slightly at the word, but still smiled. Nothing could make her upset today.

“Not used to that,” she chuckled.

“I’m so proud of you, Mom,” Henry said, wrapping her in a hug.

“Thank you, kid,” she whispered. “For bringing me here. None of this would be happening without you.” Henry looked down, his ears turning a delightful shade of pink. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Mom,” he said. “And you totally deserve this.”

“I think so too,” Hope said. Emma pulled her into a tight hug, hand running over her golden curls.

“Thank you, Cygnet,” she said, kissing the top of her head. When she let her go, Henry wrapped his arms around his sister’s waist and rested his chin atop her head. With their identical chins and cheekbones and smile, they truly looked like brother and sister. And to think, Emma had worried that they wouldn’t get along.

“Mind my hair,” she whispered.

Emma laughed, heart warmed at the sight of her two children, before turning to face Killian.

“Never thought there’d be a day I swear allegiance to a Queen,” he teased. “So, do I have to call you ‘your Majesty’ now?”

“I think ‘Swan’ still works,” she giggled, kissing him quickly. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Your Majesty,” he said, turning to look at the crowd of smiling faces. “As do they.” Emma blushed as he squeezed her hand. “I’m proud of you, Emma.”

Smiling radiantly, Emma made her way back to the podium where her parents stood; tears in her mother’s eyes. She turned to face the crowd, who waited to hear their new Queen speak.

“You know, you think of a lot of crazy things when you’re cooped up in foster care. You think about how it’s going to be when, or if, you ever get adopted. You think about how you’re going to survive tomorrow. You think about the first day of school and whether or not you’re going to tell people. You don’t really think that your parents are out there in a town in Maine with a bunch of fairy tale characters and they’re waiting for you to save them.” She looked over at her parents, who had loved her, who had always loved her. Loved her so much they had knitted a blanket for her and risked their lives to keep her safe. “And then your long lost son shows up on your doorstep and asks you to come home and it turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to you. Because when I came to Storybrooke, all the broken pieces of my heart started to put themselves back together. I found my family. I made some amazing friends, who gave me the strength I didn’t know I needed.” Her eyes scanned the crowd for Ruby, who she found in, unsurprisingly, a tight red dress, arms linked with Dorothy, and Elsa, whose pale face had turned pink. “Met someone who turned my life upside down in the best possible way.” Her eyes found Killian next. He gave her a smile, one that seemed to always calm her nerves. “And after years of thinking I could never be a mother, I have two amazing kids which I cannot be prouder of.” Hope buried her red face in Henry’s side. Henry was laughing, eyes on Emma, shining with unshed tears. “And I couldn’t be more honoured to be elected to lead you all, along with the rulers of the other realms. I know that for a lot of us, nothing will ever replace what the Evil Queen took from us with her first curse. But, with Tiana, Guinevere, Elsa, Dorothy and all these other amazing women by my side, we can go into the future and accomplish anything.” She nearly bit her tongue off at the end of her speech, which was possibly the corniest and most ridiculous thing she could ever say. But hey, she was a fairytale princess. “All we really need is faith, trust, pixie dust, and a little bit of hope.”

And Emma Swan, and everyone else, lived happily ever after.


End file.
